Sunday, March 29, 2009

Yu Xiang: Sunshine

Sunshine by Yu Xiang tr. Fan JinghuaI have already touched youI still want to get to your earsSaying out loveFor I am burning hot

If you are badI’ll grow more love

If you love meYou will be the one who dies in burning

My PS: It must have been considered “not fashionable” to write this kind of poems, for this poem is not even included in the privately printed collection selected by herself. However, there is something quite interesting about the understatement in this poem. In Chinese, “touch” (抚摸stroke and feel) usually does not have the sexual or erotic connotation as “petting” in English, but in this poem as “touch” is used against the speaking out of love, it obviously refers to something physical. Therefore, “burning hot,” which in Chinese often refers to emotional intensity (not necessarily or most often not suggesting desire or lust), is pointing to sex. This poem, in essence, is a woman’s initiative, declaration and desire to consume the man with who she desires to be in love. And this is boldly confident, feminist and self-centered.

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About Me

Fan (family name), born in 1965 in China, currently in Singapore. There are in this blog: Classical Chinese Poems, Contemporary Chinese Poems, Sylvia Plath in English and Chinese, My own poems in two Languages.... All the translations are mine. My published poetry book Faltering Words contains my selected poem suites not in English.
在此博客上可读到：中国古典诗、中国当代诗、普拉斯诗歌原文和汉译、我自己的双语诗歌。这里的翻译都是我自己做的。除了翻译几本学术著作外，我还有英文学术论文出版于牛津大学；另外已出诗集《期期之言》（组诗选）。